Firefly:Return of the Bat
by John Hawkman
Summary: Crossover with Batman; Bruce Wayne the 27th boards Serenity looking for passage to Ariel, carrying with him the family legacy.
1. Chapter 1

Firefly: Return of the Bat

_Here's how it is: Earth got used up, so we terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths, some rich and flush with new technologies, some not so much. Central Planets, thems formed the Alliance, waged war to bring everyone under their rule; a few idiots tried to fight it, among them myself. I'm Malcolm Reynolds, captain of Serenity. She's a transport ship, Firefly class. Got a good crew: fighters, pilot, mechanic. We even picked up a preacher for some reason, and a bona fide companion. There's a doctor, too, took his genius sister outta some Alliance camp, so they're keeping a low profile. You understand. You got a job, we can do it. Don't much care what it is._

The Alliance Center of Peace was the most secretive facility operated by the Alliance. It was where all the military decisions were made, often without the citizen's knowledge; to them, it was just a warehouse for storage of illegal weapons. Several guards were stationed outside, with orders to shoot to kill. Two of the guards were standing by the rear exit, talking.

"So, she says she expects me to put that son of hers through college," Lieutenant Bull said

"What did you do?" Lieutenant Cranston asked

Bull didn't say anything.

"I said, what did you do?" Cranston repeated

Cranston shoved Bull; Bull collapsed on the ground. In the back of his neck was a black ninja star, shaped like a boomerang.

"No!" Cranston exclaimed, "Not him! No no no!"

"Yes..." said a voice from the shadows, "Me!"

Two black gloves shot out, and grabbed Cranston. Cranston was hurled several feet through the air, into some trash cans. The man stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself: he was nearly seven feet tall, and wrapped in a black cloak. His face was covered by a cowl which had long pointy ears, and under his cloak he had on black briefs and a grey suit. On his chest was a symbol which had long stood for the hatred of crime: a bat.

"Robin, are you in position?" the man asked

"Ready!"

"Good boy. Wait for the signal."

******

The Bat walked up to the door, and examined the keypad. He studied it for a minute, and then slammed his fist down on it. It was then a simple matter of rewiring, and then he was inside. The Bat was looking at an office filled with people arranging genocide, war, and terrorism. A large screen showed a map of the star system and areas where there was military involvement. It made The Bat sick.

"Gentlemen..." he growled, "you've feasted well. You've feasted on the souls of the citizens you are supposed to be protecting."

The Bat held his arm up to the screen. A black ninja star shot out of his gauntlet, and destroyed the screen.

"You've eaten their wealth," he continued, "You've eaten their spirit."

He hurled out twenty ninja stars, destroying almost all computers in the room. As soon as he saw everyone was afraid, he pressed a button on his yellow belt.

"Now, Robin," he ordered

Tactically placed grenades exploded outside, and took down most of the walls. It was almost a miracle the roof stayed up.

"But it all ends tonight. From now on...none of you are safe."

The Bat held out his cloak, and seemingly flew away...

*******

Malcolm Reynolds stood in the cargo bay of his ship, waiting for Wash and Kaylee to come back. He was very reluctant to take passengers aboard, considering the caliber of people that he had taken in the last time they were on Persephone. Any other time, he would have refrained from doing it, but since River and Simon were staying with relatives on a distance moon for the week, it would be OK.

"Sir!" Zoe said, walking in, "Have you seen the news?"

She handed him an E-Paper, which displayed the news in real time.

"Mysterious winged man terrorizes Alliance warehouses," Mal read aloud, "Two guards submitted sworn testimonies saying they were attacked by a ten foot tall man who threatened to drain their blood..."

Malcolm put the paper down.

"Zoe, you don't really believe this crap, do ya?" he asked

"It's possible the Alliance made it up to add heavier guard to transport ships," Zoe said, "It could lead to problems."

"I think the Alliance knows that people are smart enough to believe that there is no winged vampire..."

"Cap'n!" Kaylee called, "we got ourselves some passengers."

One man and a teenager walked into the cargo bay. The man was tall, wearing a dark coat and welding goggles. The teenager was dressed similarly, but wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses.

"This is..." Kaylee began

"Bruce Wayne XXVII," the man shook the Captain's hand, "This is my son, Jason."

"Hi," Jason said

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Wayne," Mal said, "So, are you going all the way to Ariel?"

"We are. Jason and I ran into some trouble with the alliance, and we need to leave right now."

"Well then you're on the wrong ship Wayne. I'm afraid at our price we'll need at least three more passengers before we can take off."

Bruce opened up one of his suitcases, and took out an unmarked gold bar.

"This now," Bruce said, "Another when we get to Ariel."

Malcolm took the gold bar.

******

"Right this way, sir," he said, indicating to the stairs.

Malcolm held his radio up to his mouth.

"Wash, if you're not back in five minutes, then we're leaving you," he said

"But I've almost sealed the deal on another passenger!"

"Wash!"

"OK, I'm coming!"

********

The ship took off, and broke atmosphere. Inara's shuttle docked with them, and she came on board just in time to see Bruce Wayne before he went into his room.

"Hi," she said

"Hello," he replied, not turning around

He closed the door.

"Was he one of your clients?" Kaylee asked

"Not exactly," Inara replied, "he made several appointments, but he never showed up for any of them. I saw him about a year ago at a party, and he was bragging about me."

"But you never..."

"No."


	2. Chapter 2

Firefly: Return of The Bat

Chapter Two

The day was uneventful. Bruce and Jason stayed in their room, and the crew carried out their duties. Wash piloted the ship lazily, whilst playing with his dinosaurs. Suddenly, a warning light flashed on his console.

"What've we got?" Wash muttered

He pressed the flashing button, and a terrifying image appeared on the main screen. It was a large ship, with blood and skeletons on the hull. Spikes stuck out of it, and the scanners reported a lack of radiation shielding.

"Wuh de tyen ah!" Wash exclaimed

He picked up his communicator.

"Captain, we've got Reavers!" he croaked

All the crew and passengers gathered in the cockpit.

"I'm familiar with what Reavers do," Bruce said, "Tell me, are they on a collision course?"

"They're heading in our direction," Wash explained, "if we try to run, then they'll go after us. The best thing to do is to stay on our present course and see what happens."

"What if it's the worst case scenario?" Bruce asked

"Then…" Mal didn't like to think about it

"I'm sorry we got you into this," Kaylee said

Kaylee tried to hug Jason, but he backed away.

"Don't touch me!" he growled

The Reaver ship did not simply pass by; a magnetic grapple hook lashed onto them, and a forced docking occurred. At once, Reavers piled in. Bruce Wayne saw this on the view screen.

"I have a way of getting us out of this," Bruce said, "But can you keep a secret?"

"If there's anything you can do, then do it!" Mal ordered

Bruce and Jason eyed each other.

"OK, let's do it," Bruce nodded

Bruce pushed past Jayne, and ran to the cargo bay. He reached to his belt, and activated a transformation: his suit sleeves disappeared, revealing grey sleeves and two metal gauntlets. Bruce aimed them at the Reavers, and a crossbow-like weapon formed on the gauntlets.

"Aim," he ordered, "Lock…fire!"

A Batarang shot out of each gauntlet; each one hit a Reaver.

"That's all you're going to do?" Jayne asked

The Batarangs exploded, tearing the Reavers apart. Jason aimed his hands at the ceiling.

"Fire!" he ordered

To Jayne's surprise, an thin-but-strong rope fired out of Jason's wrist, and Jason swung across the room, kicking several Reavers back into their ship.

"The Dark Knight is upon us!" Bruce yelled

There was a bright flash, and The Bat stood where Bruce Wayne had been. Jayne was surprised, but not by The Bat's appearance; the fact that The Bat's appearance spooked the Reavers was what scared him.

"I've never seen Reavers run before," Jayne said, "That was really amazing how you fought them off."

It was much later. Serenity had managed to get away from the Reavers…well, what was left of them.

"Fear is universal," Bruce explained, "even the scariest of creatures have a fear."

"If they're afraid of anything, it would be you," Zoe said

They were sitting at the kitchen table, eating dinner. Jayne was staring at Bruce in awe.

"My dad used to tell me the stories of The Bat from Earth That Was," Jayne asked, "How he was active in the twentieth, twenty-first, and then the twenty-fourth. Which one are you?"

"I'm neither of those. The Bat was always a determined man who hated crime and corruption. My Wayne Foundation tries to promote justice, but that isn't enough."

"So you decided to use The Bat's identity?" Mal asked

"No. Several months ago, I was sitting around my private moon, trying to think of a way, and then I fell into a cavern. After this swarm of bats engulfed me, I saw all these crime fighting tools, and some journals. It was then that I realized that I'm a descendant of The Bat. So, what better way to fight the Alliance?"

"What about the kid?" Mal asked, "What do they call 'im? Nightwing?"

"Don't call me Nightwing!" Jason growled, "I'm The Robin!"

"Calm down Jason," Bruce ordered, "Anyway, Captain, it's imperative that you don't tell anyone who my son and I are, for your own good."

"Hey, any enemy of the Alliance is a friend o' mine," Mal said

"That's a relief. But you should know…"

Bruce was interrupted by a bleeping noise from his belt.

"Excuse me," he said

Bruce took out a communicator; it wasn't like the kind Mal and Jayne used, it was red, with a circuit board on the bottom.

"Talk to me," he ordered

A series of squawks came out of the box. Kaylee cringed, and held her hands over her ears.

"What?" Bruce exclaimed, "Alfred! I…of course I did! Hey! Yelling at me won't help…then don't give me a reason to!"

The squawks stopped.

"You're right," Bruce nodded, "I'll get onto it."

Bruce clipped the communicator back onto his belt.

"Someone just made a call on an Alliance frequency," Bruce announced, "Alfred, one of my agents, managed to jam it, but I need to know who did it."

Bruce eyed everyone in the room.

"None of us did it!" Jayne blurted out

"Jayne, he's trying to tell who isn't here," Zoe groaned

Bruce covered Jason's ears.

"Where's that prostitute who was here?" Bruce asked

"The proper term is…" Kaylee began

Bruce gave her the Bat-glare; it was a technique used by Bruce Wayne the First that was just a stern glare, but had evolved into a super power. Basically, it was the ability to shut someone up by glaring at them.

Bruce and Mal ran down the hallway, guns and Batarangs a'blazing.

"Inara!" Mal yelled

The door to Inara's shuttle slammed shut, and Mal heard the hiss as the shuttle pressurized.

"No…" Mal groaned, "We'll never get inside now."

Bruce lifted up his communicator.

"Alfred, open Inara's door," Bruce ordered

There was a series of squawks, and the door blasted open. The two men walked inside, and saw Inara was trying to make a call. Mal fired a warning shot at her, punching a hole in her sleeve.

"Mal, you're paying for that!" Inara said

Bruce walked up to the monitor, and checked the history.

"She sent a message on an Alliance frequency," Bruce growled

"What did it say?" Mal asked

"It said: this is Companion 10069, The Bat is on my ship, a Firefly-class transport tagged Serenity. The Bat's true identity is…and that's where the message got cut off."

"Inara…" Mal growled

"You don't understand!" Inara said, "This man is an anarchist, a criminal. It's my duty as a concerned citizen to turn him in."

"Would you turn in Simon and River?" Mal asked

"No, but they didn't…"

"You'll have to forgive her, Mal," Bruce said, "Companions get mad when you have their clients arrested."

"I see," Mal said

"Companions thrive on crime," Bruce continued, "They also have a very warped concept of justice. Bad combination."

"Well, Bruce, what do we do?" Mal asked, "I've got no problem with dumping her on the next M-Class planet."

"That's not a bad idea, since we're very close to a planet where I drop off criminals who are too dangerous for regular prisons, but she knows too much," Bruce explained, "and for some reason, in our society the word of a prostitute is usually held over that of the guy with the real job."

"I'm not a prostitute!" Inara growled

"Do you screw guys out of their money?" Bruce asked, "What, you think just because you have some silk drapes and tea that makes you some kind of a priestess?"

Inara opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came to her.


	3. Chapter 3

Firefly: Return of the Bat

Chapter Three

Inara had been confined to the brig so she couldn't call the alliance. The brig wasn't really a brig, it was just a cupboard that had bars instead of a door. Shepherd Book was standing on guard, since Jayne couldn't be trusted. Mal, Bruce, and Wash stood in the cockpit.

"I need to get to my ship as soon as possible," Bruce said, "It has a cloaking device, but it will lose power in ten hours, then be visible to the Alliance."

Bruce's communicator squawked.

"Sorry, nine hours," he corrected himself

"Just give me the coordinates, and I can get you there," Wash said

"It's parked in orbit around Ariel. If you continue on your present course, then we'll make it just in time."

"OK, can do," Wash said

"So what about the Alliance message?"

Suddenly, the ship shook; a forced docking was occurring. The face of an Alliance officer appeared on screen.

"This is Captain Kernel of the United Alliance Ship Hilton," he said, "we have reason to believe that The Bat is on board your ship."

"I thought The Bat didn't exist," Mal said, "Isn't that what the Alliance parliament ruled? They wouldn't lie to us, would they?"

"Just surrender him to us, and there will be no struggle," Kernel said

******

The seven crew members, and Bruce and Jason, were standing in the cargo bay, waiting for the Alliance crew to board. The doors slowly slid aside, revealing several armed guards.

"Who's The Bat?" Captain Kernel ordered

"I am," Mal stepped forward before Bruce could, "I am The Bat."

"He's lying!" Inara yelled from the brig, "Bruce Wayne is Batman!"

"We're not doing that plan, Robin!" Mal yelled, "Oh!"

Mal covered his mouth, acting like he had said something stupid.

"Take her too," Kernel ordered

*******

The Alliance ship disembarked, and went away. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"You are so lucky that worked," Zoe said

Wash, Jayne, and Bruce stood in the cockpit. Wash was rerouting power to the engines so they would get to Bruce's ship faster.

"If you can get the ship to go this fast today, then why don't you always do it?" Jayne asked

"I always tell Mal that my top speed is at least half of what my real one is," Wash explained, "That way his expectations are lower."

"Uh huh. I'm going to go get my equipment together, work on some of my crime investigations," Bruce said, "Plus I'd better make sure people know Mal's been arrested, otherwise the Alliance might send him to one of their death camps."

"I've already taken care of that," Wash said, "Mr. Universe is making the necessary arrangements."

******

Later…

******

Serenity orbited around Ariel, after a long journey.

"Persephone to Ariel in fifteen hours, good job Wash," Bruce said

"Thanks," Wash said, "So, where do we find your ship?"

"You see that ship over there?" Bruce pointed out the window

Wash saw the ship in the distance, and brought it up on screen. It was a small black shuttle, the kind used for hauling goods from continent to continent, or from ground to orbiting satellites.

"That's your ship?" Wash asked, "From what Jayne's told me about The Bat, this isn't your style."

"It's not what you think," Bruce said

"But I like the way you painted it. The yellow skylights and the metal patch on the back of the roof make it look like a face."

"Wash, the thing is…"

Suddenly, Wash's radar screeched, revealing ten Alliance ships closing in on them.

"No! So close!" Bruce groaned, "What's the ship's top speed?"

"Not fast enough," Wash replied

"OK then. Did I see a torpedo tube downstairs?"

"Yeah, but…" Wash began

*****

Bruce ran to the cargo bay, and shut himself in the torpedo tube. He kicked the launching pad, and he was fired outside into the dangers of outer space. Bruce moved quickly, switching on his gauntlets. His suit and tie disappeared, revealing his Bat-suit. Bruce masked, and breathed in deeply, as the suit changed to meet the environmental standards. Long story short, it gave him air and heat.

About a minute of shooting through space, The Bat touched down on his ship, slowing his descent to a minimal level.

"Activate gravity," The Bat ordered

The ship obeyed The Bat's orders, and a circle of gravity activated around him.

"I just need to find my hidden entrance," The Bat thought

Suddenly, a laser shot fired right next to The Bat. He looked up, and saw United Alliance Space Marines closing in on him.

"No time to find it," The Bat growled

The Bat reached to his gauntlet, and typed in a combination on his keypad. Suddenly, the rest of his ship de-cloaked. It was massive, at least four times as big as Serenity, and shaped like a massive bat.

"Activate the solar weapon," The Bat ordered into his communicator, "Move the ship fifty-two degrees to the left."

The Bat changed the communicator's frequency to Serenity's intercom.

"Attention Firefly-class ship," The Bat said, "I suggest you cover your eyes or put on solar goggles. If you don't like getting your eyes burnt out."

*******

All of a sudden, on the ship, millions of tiny panels folded over, revealing solar panels. Combined, they took enough energy in from the sun to sufficiently power it. Just as the ship tilted to the perfect angle, The Bat remembered to activate the sun-shields on his mask. One second later, the solar panels switched from take-in to reflect.

"Intensify the light, target the ships," The Bat ordered

The solar panels receded into smaller circles, blasting beams of light at the ships, destroying their engines.

"Good shooting Alfred," The Bat said

The Bat entered his ship through the part that looked like a shuttle, and switched on his video communicator.

"Yeah?" Wash appeared on the screen

"Just wanted to thank you for the ride," The Bat said

"No problem."

"I'll swoop over later to pick up my son when I'll return Captain Reynolds to you."

"Cool. Peace out."

******

After a quick stop on a private moon, The Bat flew his Bat-Ship to an Alliance prison planet, Alcatraz II, and spotted the ship that Mal and Inara had boarded. Slowly, he made his descent.

"Bat-One coming in for landing," The Bat said, "you can either prepare the runway, or I'll blast one with my laser guns."

They complied, and gave him a runway. The shuttle disembarked from the main ship, and The Bat touched down smoothly. He stepped out, greeted by soldiers with guns.

"Don't insult me with those," warned The Bat, "I've come to get Captain Reynolds released."

"You have no authority to do that," the Sergeant warned, "Under section 13 of the Ariel City convention, only Alliance officers may negotiate prisoner release."

"Well if you want to do it that way…Section 29 of the Miranda act says that once a man of obvious conviction turns himself in, then any man who was previously arrested for his crimes will go free. Also, Inara Serra's companion status of course means that she needs at least a level three evidence confirmation before she can be taken into police custody."

The Sergeant thought for a moment.

"So you're turning yourself in?" the Sergeant asked

"Yes, once Captain Reynolds and Inara are released."

"Then get him out here!"

The Sergeant began ordering his troops around, and soon, Mal and Inara were out of their jail cell.

"OK, The Bat," the Sergeant grinned, "Now come with us, or the Captain won't be released."

"Ah, you forgot about Section Two of the Atlantis Act. As you can see, I am not legally recognized as existing, so therefore I can't be arrested. However, I did turn myself in."

"He's got you there, sir," one soldier said

"Shut up!" ordered the Sergeant, "and you do exist, we know that if you're not the captain, then you're Bruce Wayne."

"Someone say my name?" Bruce Wayne stuck his head out of the ship

"I brought Mister Wayne with me so he wouldn't be a suspect," The Bat explained, "And his son. Jason, come on out."

Jason stepped out nervously.

"Need money for college," Jason muttered, "Never enough. Sign up two years. Get you for more…"

"Enough, Jason," Bruce warned

"So, we'll be off," The Bat said

*****

"Hold it!" the Sergeant warned, "If you take Captain Reynolds, then we'll just find him and arrest him."

"What for?" The Bat asked, "Being The Bat? I think it's pretty obvious that he's not. And I urge you not to annoy Bruce Wayne, or his son, because…"

The Bat walked to the troops and said something that Mal couldn't hear.

"What did he say?" Mal asked

"You don't want to know," Bruce replied

******

The Bat walked back onto his ship, with Mal and Inara following.

"Which one of you is actually Bruce Wayne?" Mal asked, as soon as the door was closed

"I am," The Bat said, "This is one of my agents."

The fake Bruce Wayne reached to his face, and tugged at it. His skin peeled off like gum, and then came completely off, revealing the face of Simon Tam.

"Ah," nodded Mal, "Simon, how do you know this guy?"

"I used to be his emergency surgeon; in exchange, he helped me get River out of the alliance academy."

"Is that River as Jason?" Mal asked

"Yeah, it took almost half an hour to get the mask on," Simon groaned, "It was worse than the time Inara tried to give her a haircut."

******

To be Concluded


	4. Chapter 4

Epilogue

*****

*****

Bruce and Jason left in The Bat's ship. It was late, it had been a long day, and Mal was incredibly tired, so he walked to his room. He passed by Kaylee's room on the way; the door/ladder was open.

"…and then," came Jayne's voice, "The Bat looked up at the sky, and saw his dead father's skeleton looking down at him. It said 'Son, I am ashamed of you, you are a disgrace', and The Bat said, 'no, you're not my father! I am vengeance, I am the night, I am…'"

"Jayne!" Mal yelled, sticking his head down, "if you give that girl nightmares, you can be the one who has to comfort her!"

"Will do," Jayne replied

"Come on Jayne, finish the story!" Kaylee begged, gripping her covers

"OK. So he bellows out, 'I am vengeance, I am the night, I am…The Bat!'."

Jayne leapt up, outstretching his black blanket-covered arms. Kaylee gasped.

"What happened to Professor Crane?" she asked

"Well, the way my Dad told me, the hallucination of his father disappears, and he arrests Scarecrow. But in the version my Uncle told me, he shoots his grapple hook up to the train going through the city, and then he faces his true enemy…"

Jayne turned around, and placed his blanket around his neck so it was like a cape. He then turned back around menacingly.

"An evil man named Ra's Al Ghul," Jayne said, with a creepy British accent, "who plans to destroy Gotham city…"

*****

Mal walked into his room, and collapsed onto his bunk.

"I've wanted you so badly for so long…" he groaned, hugging his bed, "If I had to put up with another minute of that super hero go-se…"

Suddenly, a green light flickered on in the room.

"Not tonight Inara…" Mal muttered

"Malcolm Reynolds!" came a ghostly voice

Mal turned over.

"I said…"

Right in front of him, there was a glowing green ring, hovering in mid air.

"Je shr shuh muh lan dong shi?" Mal groaned

"You have been chosen to represent the Green Lantern Corps…"

The ring shot onto Mal's finger, and suddenly, Mal was glowing too. He got up, and his clothes changed to a green and black jumpsuit. He wasn't afraid anymore; he realized what was going on. A green lantern appeared in front of him.

"In brightest day, in blackest night," Mal said, the words flowing from his mouth, "the Alliance will get out of my sight! Let those who deal out oppression's might, beware my power, the Green Lantern's light!"

*****

*****

The End

*****

_Malcolm Reynolds and The Bat will return in Firefly: Ultimate Justice. If I get some good reviews._


End file.
